It Is Time For A Fresh Start

The New Year is upon us. Many people starting fresh with goals, resolutions and more. For me, it's not goals or resolutions but creating intentions. I intend to take things one day at a time, build relationships, work with better enthusiasm and keep away from the damn forums lol.

This year has been a hell of a rollercoaster, some great, some awful and others pretty damn amazing. Got married, read a few more books, had many reflections on who I'am supposed to be as opposed to who I WANT to be. Learned a little more about myself and what keeps me happy and developing acceptance. There were a few times I've lost sight of myself and focused so much on what others thought of me instead of what I truly thought of myself.

I will admit, I got caught up way too freaking much of the forums online. My brother in strength, Bud Jeffries advised me so heartedly to stay off of them, my wife did the same thing and I'm ashamed that I didn't listen or even hear enough with the best intentions. I was addicted, getting frustrated with myself and was driving myself crazy almost daily with updates of the latest thread that was putting a mental strain on psyche. It was like a train wreck that I couldn't help but stare at and just felt miserable but in awe at the same time.

I've been called many names on these different places, a couple I've mentioned on this blog and got caught up in engaging and making it seem like I have split personality when in reality, I couldn't see what I was really doing and that was pouring gasoline on the fire in my mind and giving those jerks what they wanted. One forum had a couple people that were cool with me but others intended to call me out and just sucked me into the rabbit hole of "keyboard fighting" and I hated that I put myself in that position. The other was nothing more than a bunch of guys who spend their time calling out someone else and play school girl gossip games of "who can we go after today?"

I have to let that part of me go, one day at a time. I love my friends, my wife, my family and I appreciate the positive feedback I get from time to time. I know I'm putting a target on my back for some and it is time to just accept for what it is, although they're being negative and I've been negative towards them, I do appreciate in some sick and twisted way of what they do because if you don't get the best from both positive and negative points of view, how do you know if you're doing something right?

There's always going to be some troll or some group that will criticize everything you do and make up their own assumptions without knowing a damn thing about you on the deepest level. I pity them and I hope they find peace someday. Anyone who has truly been around me for an extended period of time knows who I really am on a deeper level and has accepted me for me. All in all, I can get along with just about anybody young or old and I do my best to treat people the way I want to be treated and I help those I love and care about without hesitation and if I have your back, you know I don't shy away from it.

A fresh start isn't about changing who you are, it's about learning who you become from moving forward and taking things one day at a time, it's a journey and no matter where it leads you, make the most of what you have and love with the best intentions. Those forums aren't meant for me anymore, I have made friends, I've made "keyboard enemies" and I don't regret WALKING away from them. It's time to make 2020, the best year to come.

Taste In Music

I have at times posted on social media what I listened to in my workouts. It's mainly Heavy Metal and Hard Rock from such bands such as Metallica, Van Canto, Five Finger Death Punch, Halestorm, Sirenia, Godsmack and others but the real roots to my love for music was long before these bands ever existed. I had read about Kenny Lynch (Singer of the 60's song Up On The Roof) who died recently and listened to that version of the song and it brought back many memories from my childhood.

As a kid in the 90's, I did listen to bands like Alice In Chains, Sugar Ray & Rappers like Snoop, Dre & Ice Cube but my big love of music at the time was bands from the 50's-70's. My mother exposed me to some of the best from the past like the Beach Boys, Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Temptations, The Drifters, Jan & Dean and the Marcels. Both my parents were teenagers of the 1960's and heard that everywhere but in my generation, it was more of a dying art and very few kids and adults in their 20's at the time barely even knew who these bands were. Just about everywhere my mo took me in her little Honda CRX, I listened to the oldies on CD or on Cassette (For you young kids out there). 

Living in Santa Cruz, CA was purely beach bands of course but one of my favorites that I lost count listening to by the time I was 12 was the Drifters- Under The Boardwalk. It was so fun listening to that on the way to the Beach Boardwalk and as I got older, I would do the Bass Line of the song. I would rock out to CCR even to this day and I always carry a smile on my face even on those hard days.

My family on my dad's side would go to Lake Tahoe every year since the early 70's and for two weeks out of the year, we would be crammed to 1 or 2 cabins (Now 3) and have adventures that would last a lifetime. One of those memories was one day me and my aunt were driving back from somewhere and she would pop on a tape of different bands and the two I remember really on that day was the Marcels- Blue Moon & Moody Blues- Knights In White Satin. It was funny how she described White Satin saying it was about a knight falling in love with a princess, when it was clearly not. 

Whenever I went to any beach, I always heard a Beach Boys song in my head or remembering the lyrics to Jan & Dean's Dead Man's Curve while driving with my mom. It was engraved into me at an early age this was some of the best music of any generation. Although I like some music that's played today, nothing will ever beat the classics and that Doo Wop  style like Blue Moon or hearing the harmony and pick me up tune to My Girl by the Temptations. 

These groups and songs are alive because of the memories we have. Even in the dark days of racism, segregation and Civil Rights acts, there was beautiful and kick ass music. Hell, even the best guitarist of that era was Jimmy Hendrix man, whaling it at Woodstock with the NATIONAL FREAKING ANTHEM (The GOAT of all versions of our American Song). With the emergence of Black Sabbath, CCR, Led Zeppelin, you had a generation that thrived on rebellion and sticking it to the man. Music today even with those my age, it doesn't have the same affect and the will to stand up for something through music. 

In Junior High, I was in the Choir and did shows at schools, an Assisted Living Facility and even performed once or twice at the Coconut Grove in Santa Cruz doing different songs like Downtown by Petula Clark and Tears In Heaven by Eric Clapton. My memories of that time was meeting a girl who was in my class and I ended up having my first make out session with and getting to meet Jack O'neill the Surfing Mogul on our bus (I think it was that same weekend lol). Those were definitely fond memories. 

The more I write, the more memories just keep popping up. With a strong memory, music is really a factor in it because whenever a certain song comes on, I get chills and remember certain moments as if they happened 5 minutes ago. It's a part of your soul and brings a certain happiness to your heart and that's what music of that early era is to me. 

It doesn't matter if you're young or old, these groups and sons are Timeless.  

The more I write, it seems the more memories keep popping up  

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Isometrics & The Legendary Charles Atlas

In the world of Physical Culture, Isometrics and the name Charles Atlas are synonymous but it's not in the same context some people have been led to believe. For decades, for the most part in a funny sense, it was believed that Atlas and Isometric Exercise was part of the same system. Many "experts" and "gurus" alike thought that Dynamic Tension was based on exercises using Isometrics. In truth, it really wasn't and if anybody says different, never understood what Isometrics and Atlas' system really was used for.

There's no denying that Charles Atlas (who's real name was Angelo Siciliano) was one of the most famous men in the history of modern exercise and an advocate for the method of Isometrics. He was a 2 time winner of The Most Perfectly Developed Man award and that contest ended after his two reigns because it was believed he would win every year almost like the Mr. America contest when John Grimek won it twice but the only difference was the contest continued but only a person can win it one time and never participate again. Atlas was a name planted in the brains of many american boys at the time and was a hero to those kids who were skinny during the 30's.

The ads that everyone including many today remember were featured in the back of popular comic books, featuring a young man that was very skinny and bullied, getting sand kicked in his face by a strong and muscular jackass prick. Being embarrassed and ridiculed in front of gorgeous young women, the kid who was named Mac, vowed to never feel like that again. He orders the Charles Atlas course and builds himself up into this superhero looking specimen using only a few chairs and his own bodyweight. The next time Mac goes to the beach, he sees that same jerk giving another boy a hard time and pops him one square in the jaw. With that act of heroism and along with his muscular physique, he got swarmed by pretty girls just going gaga over him.

It's a kick ass tale that truly belonged in a Superhero Story yet it was very true. That really did happen to the young Angelo before he became the man we all know as Charles Atlas. Now why would anyone believe that Dynamic Tension & Isometrics went together hand in hand?

What got most people to believe was the word Tension in the name of the course. Atlas believed in tightening the muscles like we do with Isometrics. The biggest difference is that he applied movement while tensing the muscles so with a name like Dynamic Tension actually means Moving With Tension. Isometrics in Greek means same-length (Iso-Metric) so say you do a Bicep Curl, you're using so much force but you're not moving the muscle as oppose to the word Isotonic which means same-tone (Iso-Tonic) meaning as you use force or tension, you move the muscle in a powerful fashion. Isotonic Exercise is what Charles Atlas taught.

It is said that Atlas learned some of the Isometric And Isotonic Exercises from a guy named Alois P. Swoboda who had one of the first Mail Order Fitness Courses but in reality, the exercises mainly came from another Physical Culturist named Bernarr MacFadden who had courses such as Muscular Power & Beauty and Vitally Supreme. To tell you the truth, I tend to go the route of Macfadden since many of the Atlas Exercises showed up in one of Bernarr's books more than 2 decades before Atlas and business partner Charles Roman revolutionized Dynamic Tension. Atlas also used similar exercises from the legendary Fitness Guru and Vaudeville Strongman Earle Liederman.

There you have it guys, the answer about Charles Atlas & Isometrics. Contrary to popular belief, Atlas did use Isometric Exercise but never taught them. The exercises in Dynamic Tension however, can be made into Isometric Exercises. How cool is that to take exercise and use them in a different context that can still be beneficial? 

Can Strength Be Built Using Isometric Exercise?

Many people around the world debate and think about what the best system is for building strength; from my point of view, a solid program should have you train your body from the inside out. In the terms of building real strength and not just looking strong, Isometric Exercise isn't as popular of a method like many of us physical culturists want it to be and our job is to help educate on the reasons why it can possibly build strength and its purpose in not just exercise but for overall health.

Isometrics in a nutshell, builds tremendous strength out of the tendons, ligaments and the nerves out to our muscles. I've done both styles of training that includes isolating the muscles and targeting the muscles in a compound setting of using multiple muscle groups in a given exercise. Don't neglect the internal principles that could actually bring greater stability to your body within and outwardly.

Frankly I have found that I've gotten stronger both within a short and long-term stand point than with just about an other method I've practiced. Performing styles of Isometrics doing short but crazy intense periods and long holds using less intensity to target the muscles and the surrounding areas for a different effect. Using a program like 7 Seconds To A Perfect Body utilizes the way you maximize the intensity of a contraction for 7-12 seconds. This will give your body a mighty chance of developing strength.

The tension and the intensity of a contraction are the deciding factors that produce muscle growth. Lifting a weight is the external stimulus that makes the muscles tense or contract because the body sees the weight as heavy and recruits many fibers of the muscle to move the weight. Now the more difficult of the weight lifted, the more the fatigue builds up. Isometrics forces you to maximize the level of contraction off the bat and making those muscle fibers fire and fatigue within seconds.

With the combination of Muscle Control and training the large muscle groups, Isometrics lets you get a powerful CNS response that goes into building great endurance along with muscular size. From performing feats of strength such as steel bending, phonebook tearing and rolling a frying pan to helping people move, shoveling snow and even going up flights of stairs, Isometrics have been a blessing and has kept me from being seriously injured in the long run. Make it a part of your regimen and find out the benefits in your health and well being.

If you travel a lot or aren't into doing bodyweight isometrics, check out the WorldFit Iso Trainer.

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The Squat Workout From Hell

I bet you thought this was about doing some crazy weights and doing 20 reps of squats with that weight huh? No no my dear reader; this is about squats you can do anywhere and anytime without any equipment whatsoever. This workout will make you sore yet won't get bored, it changes every time and you can vary the reps or do multiple variations. It'll never, EH EH EH..EVER, make you feel the same way AGAIN (if you're a fan of Chris Jericho, you'll catch that reference).

Squats are THE exercise to build enormous stamina, functional strength and insane conditioning in the legs. You can do them in a variety of ways and at various tempos, repetitions and sets with other exercises. However, when you start to them in high numbers, say over 100, you'll start to notice a few things; your lungs are a little stronger, a bit more pep in your step and even a little more led in your pencil. Leg Training has been a staple for many athletes in all types of sports but one of the very best variations is the Hindu Squat. A foundational exercise in ancient India to build powerful legs for wrestlers that practice the old art of Kushti.

The practice of this exercise comes in different forms but wrestlers of that region plus other middle eastern countries regard it as the ultimate leg exercise. Some wrestlers and other athletes today do it in the hundreds, sometimes 1000 or more. They normally do it at a fast clip and used for speed, conditioning and balance. This is where this workout from hell will come into play.

I've done 500 Squats on many occasions and a couple times 1000 or more. My goal at one time was to see how fast I can do 500 without compromising form and my fastest is under 12 minutes, that's cruising like a motherf*cker man. The first time I did 1000 was in 56 minutes, the next time was 33 minutes on my 33rd Birthday. Although this means with numbers like that you're in pretty good shape but some don't want to have that accolade of being fast and doing that many like an athlete. Some people just want to be in shape and like doing them in sets or like a pyramid set of reps where they can also take a breather every now and then, nothing wrong with that. For someone like me who has a stiff lower back, I don't do the speed demon style anymore, instead I use a workout to do high reps that let's me break away for a bit if I need to and not feel forced to just keep going for the sake of keeping going, I can injure myself that way.

The Squat Workout From Hell would be a good ole fashioned deck of cards where you shuffle, flip a card and have at it until you reached the end. At first, getting through a few cards can be a chore so do what's possible, add 1-3 cards each workout until you can get through a full deck. I do a deck that goes up to 500 altogether and focus solely on the Hindu Squat. I don't time myself but I move as best as I can and if I need a breather to let my back loosen up, I do so but always do my best to finish the deck each time. Here's how you do 500 Reps with a deck of cards.....


2-10 is Face Value

King, Jack, Queen are 10

Aces are 16

Jokers are 50


This workout can be done anywhere and shouldn't take more than 20 minutes to complete. If you were to do them straight through, the idea is 15 minutes or less. I used this workout before going on a hike with my dad last week and it paid off big time. I don't hike all that much so this kept me in great shape for it. You can do it in your hotel room, at a park, on the beach, in the parking lot before going into a restaurant or a grocery store (just be sure to have a towel on hand, might look weird if you're sweating in the middle of an aisle or eating a meal) or you can do it before a sporting event. This is the effectiveness of this workout and it always changes, you can do high reps multiple ways.

Be sure to do loosen up the joints and gradually build up the numbers, you don't want to do 500 off the bat and cold cause it can have some effects that may not feel good. You will be sore the first time around so be sure to recover well and be consistent, in time it'll feel like a cake walk. This is a great way to get in awesome shape and build incredible lung power.

A Fun Trip For A Fun Birthday To My Dad

I don't get to spend much time with my dad these days and for obvious reasons. For a few days last week, I got to celebrate his 70th Birthday and have a wonderful time with my family in Santa Cruz, California. Got some great one on one time with him and having fun conversations about life, sports, what I've been up to and going on a beautiful hike with him on the trails in this mountain area called Medicine Buddha.

Thursday was mainly just getting over the flight down to San Francisco and head back home in Capitola. Nice dinner, catching up and having a few laughs. Friday had a few activities going on including the Hike, even though earlier that morning was doing 500 Hindu Squats to keep my knees in shape for the Hike itself lol. Spent some time with my 98 year old Grandmother and visited/spent the night at my best friend's house with his girl and son. Lots of laughs, a couple movies, dinner and making his girl regret having 2 35+ year olds acting like teenagers in the house.

Saturday was the big day, gathered up most of the family for a photoshoot out in the beautiful california sun along the beach. Headed back to the house for a ton of food and cramming 20+ people in his condo. Caught up with as many people as I can and making rounds, talking to a few of the kids and playing with them a bit. No cake this year but their friend Lisa made this awesome Cobbler that was pretty damn good. Gave my dad a really awesome birthday present of a baseball jersey of his childhood hero Willie Mays (#24) with my dad's last name on it. The moment he saw it, he got a little emotional and went off to change into it, it was a proud moment as a son to do that for him.

Sunday morning I had to leave and head back home. Missing my wife like crazy and was ready to be back home and resume the life man. Next time we see them will highly likely be on our annual family trip to (South) Lake Tahoe and soak up some sun, swim in the lake, do a little gambling and have a good ole fashion family adventure.

Spend some time with the people you love and soak every moment you can, you never know when you'll have those moments again. Cannot wait for what's in stored for the next episode of the family that puts the FUN in DysFUNctional.

The Things That Make You Laugh And Yet Pity Someone At The Same Time

It's come to my understanding that no matter how hard you try at times, you just can't please everyone and what's really the point of doing so? If they're important to you, it may be worth it but in the end, if they're just a bunch of dumbasses talking high school bullshit, they're going to give you shit no matter what you do. You know those mean tweets celebs read on those late night talk shows? I get that type of feeling from certain people that have literally gone out of their way to not only try to discourage me and burn the hell out of what I do and what gives me purpose but also say things that just makes you either want to punch them in the face or cripple them.


"Boybenny is the lowest two faced worm going......he is a true c*nt"

"Benny is a pitiful weak piece of shit. Never trust a guy who pities himself publicly."

"Benny on the other hand, comes in clumsily with all the finesse of the hammers he uses on those tires."

These were said recently on a forum literally dedicated to bashing anyone associated with John Peterson and his Charles Atlas-esqe Training style. I have written about these guys before but these recent comments directed at me are just toppings on a shit cake that they decided to put their energy and life into. First, it did bug me because, quite frankly, no matter how much you put yourself out there, nobody still won't understand the real you until you've been around them. Now, it's just so damn laughable and cowardice that it just makes me feel sorry or them.

It really is fascinating to me that I have that kind of power to make people really irritated and actually form words that would make a highly patient therapist to tell them to shut the hell up. Such a train wreck for those poor unfortunate souls (you heard that in your head listening to Ursula's voice from the Little Mermaid didn't you?) to live a life where you feel the need to belittle and trash someone other than your own group of circle jerks to not only feel good about your miserable lives but actually get off on being a negative prick. I'll admit, I'm not perfect and like a human being things do get sensitive but you move on and live with things that also make you happy and feel worthy in this world.

If you want to check out these poor bastards, by all means lurk around; calling themselves "Aging Macho Men", what you'll find is nothing more than a bunch of "Grown" Men posting about a group of people who are into fitness and trying to find their place in it, even if it's odd and and creepy at times. I take a look every now and then mainly for the entertainment and for someone like me, it's like looking at a car wreck, you don't want to look but it feels like a tractor beam lures you in and you look anyway.

In part, I have really nothing against these "Men" cause for one, they have a right to voice their opinions and make their own conclusions and two, no matter what I do or say, they'll come up with their own version of what they think I' am and stick with it. Anybody who truly knows me knows what kind of person I really am and show it with complete transparency. They don't have even 5% of a clue of who I really am. That one comment about my hammer and the tires, I would love to see a video of them handling a hammer that weighs nearly 60 lbs. I welcome it, i'll give them a positive review about it. And as far as trusting me, there are plenty of people around me that trust me without question so whatever these Gargoyles believe, they hate themselves more because if they want to bash and put a dark cloud over someone else, that's more to say about them than the person their trashing.

The internet is chalk full of those who would rather be miserable and make others feel miserable. Live the best life you can and create positive attitudes, I struggle to do this everyday so you're not alone and I really hope these guys find peace otherwise they're never going to change and they'll keep being miserable people with no chance of developing any real love. One day, I will wake up and not have a thought about them but until then, I really hope they find a different path and do things they're truly capable of doing.